Currently, nearly one in four women has been assaulted by
their partner[1]. This
is an issue well known and discussed, known as domestic violence. Domestic
violence is generally a ‘close’ relationship, with family or partners, where
abuse and violence takes place frequently, whether it is physical,
psychological, sexual or financial. There are many reasons and motives behind
domestic violence, all of which I will analyse within this essay.
As already mentioned, nearly one in four women in the UK has
been assaulted by their partner, and in fact, a study by the European Agency
for Fundamental Rights found that Domestic Violence rates are higher than the
European average in the UK [2],
with nearly half of women being assaulted at some point since the age of 15
(44%). It is clear that it is a widespread problem, and is growing fairly
quickly. If we analyse the two previously mentioned surveys, in 1999, nearly 1
in 4 women had been assaulted, which is less than 25% of women. Whereas, in a
different survey conducted in 2014, 44% of women had been assaulted. However,
these results may be open to scrutiny, due to the fact that varying numbers of
people took part in each report. Nevertheless, it still illustrates the fact that
more women are consistently experiencing domestic assault in the UK. Furthermore,
domestic violence is a problem that commonly has to be dealt with. Domestic
Violence incidents account for 10% of all calls made to the emergency services[3].
There are a number of patterns with regards to domestic
violence. For example, I have repeatedly said the word “woman” when talking
about domestic violence. To be a bit more politically correct, I should just
say “people”, because men can also be subject to domestic violence. However,
the sad reality is that many of the victims are women. 31% of all women have
experienced some form of domestic abuse at some point since the age of 16,
compared to 18% of all men[4].
That is nearly twice as many women suffering domestic abuse. There are a number
of reasons behind women mainly being the victims of domestic abuse.
Religion and Culture
In most religions, women are treated as a lower class to
men. This may not be explicitly stated in the text of the religion, however it
is clear that women being devalued, and treated unequally are consequences of
the teachings of some religions.
Many people see this in Islam, where women do not have an
entirely independent choice with regards to who they can marry, and
furthermore, Islamic teaching present this idea of “guardianship” that men
should put over women. Moreover, women are expected to wear some kind of
religious dress, such as a hijab or a burka, to ‘conceal their modesty’,
whereas men can dress however they want. In an equal society, men should not
have to be “guardians” to women. Women can look after themselves, and do not
need a man to thrive. It is frustrating to know that these ideologies are
consistently present in our secular society. I will always see both male and
female post hipster quotes on how a male should “protect his girlfriend” and all that
nuisance. Here’s an idea… maybe women can protect themselves? Sadly, society
doesn’t seem to think so, and in fact, I will encounter many girls who feel
they need to have some kind of intimate relationship, to have a sense of
self-worth, as society makes a lot of women think that they were built as
wives, and someone to satisfy a man’s sexual desire.
Back to Islam, the fact that women have to wear some kind of
religious dress is debatable, with regards to whether or not it makes women
equal, or unequal to men. In a sense, it shows them not to be sexual objects to
other men. However, ironically, the fact that they wear them shows them to be
like objects towards greater men in their families, such as their fathers, or
husbands. This is because they have to be concealed to everybody else, but can
only open up to their husbands. This is almost like a man’s personal object
that nobody is allowed to properly see for who she is. This presents a gender
inequality within the religion, as women are treated like objects to ‘greater’
males. This is
It is not just Islam that gender inequality is present in.
In practically all religions, women are treated as lower than men in some form.
In Christian marriage, women are walked down the aisle by their fathers, then
‘handed over’ to their husbands to be like some kind of object. I find this
extremely frustrating, and many don’t seem to notice it. This may seem like
nothing, and harmless to many, but it escalates into a massive gap between men
and women with regards to how they are valued. Men are seen as the strong, the
dominant and the successful, and women are seen as a man’s object. His cook,
his cleaner, his object for sexual desire. This is why women are only really
noticed and recognised for how attractive they look, and not for how intelligent
or successful they are. They are just attractive objects, and nobody cares
about who they are as people, just how attractive they are. All of this links
to the attitude certain Medias will portray of women and how it affects other
people’s attitudes.
We all know that these religious texts do not promote
domestic violence, but ones corrupted misinterpretation of it may contribute to
attitudes towards women. This is certainly present in many eastern originated
religions. For example, in countries like India and Pakistan, domestic violence
towards women is a growing social issue. In fact, studies have estimated that
70 to 90% of Pakistani women are subjected to domestic violence[5].
Of course, these statistics are open to extreme criticism. For a start, the
interval is significantly large, so it is clear it is an extremely vague
estimate. This is because it is difficult to put a precise statistic on
domestic violence, due to the fact that many of it goes unnoticed, and
undocumented, especially in eastern countries, as it is almost seen as a social
norm.
This idea of women being treated like objects certainly
contributes to people’s attitudes towards women, thus contributing to the rates
of domestic violence. I even see it amongst school boys. They have a horrible
attitude towards intelligent and powerful women and as a consequence, domestic
abuse occurs in extreme circumstances of this.
In general, marriage in any culture seems to create some
kind of inequality between man and woman. This can be because of the temptation
to abide by the social norm, with the woman staying at home to cook, clean and
nurture the student, and the men going out and earning a living. This is
perfectly illustrated by Dobash and Dobash’s study, where they believe that
marriage almost legitimises domestic abuse, because it is like a transfer of
authority, which is why there were so many cases in Scotland where men would abuse
their marital partners if they challenged their authority[6]
All of this is one of the many reasons why women are the
greatest sufferers of domestic violence.
How else are Women Devalued?
I would argue that this poor attitude towards women all
stems from certain religious values. In fact, a lot of the laws and morals we
abide by today, stem from the religious values set a long time ago. Sadly, with
it come the unequal ideas, which we just seem to abide by for traditional
reasons.
We can see these values explicitly presented in so many
different parts of society. For example, many of us will agree that the
portrayal of women in rap songs and general hip hop culture is extremely poor.
If you look at the lyrics of these songs, you may notice that if they do talk
about women, they are only talking about her appearance, or sex appeal. It is
sad to see how in films, songs, literature and the general media, women are
only looked upon for their appearance, and their physical attractiveness. For
example, on GQ Magazine, you will see front covers of strong, powerful,
intelligent and successful men, wearing sharp suits and expensive watches. We
admire them for being so successful, and we respect them for earning their
riches. On the contrary, the women on the front cover of GQ Magazine are
typically wearing nothing, and it seems the only thing that they can sell is
their appearance and their sex appeal. We will only recognise how attractive
they are, and not who they are as people. A further example of this would be
when comedian Dawn O’Porter decided to go on popular panel show “8 Out Of 10
Cats”, after declining many of the invitations to other panel shows. After the
show, she received consistent tweets about her appearance; her hair in
particular, rather than her comedic performance. This is something you will see
on all panel shows, even if women are on the panel. Men will dominate the
political debates, devaluing the intellectual capabilities of women.
The sad part is that a lot of the female populace do not decrease
the severity of the issue. They in fact perpetuate it. Women will always make
comments on how other women look, and try to improve their own appearance, as a
way of attracting a man’s attention. Obviously, many women will deny trying to
attract a man’s attention, but all will still stick to this idea of vanity, and
trying to look like a “pretty” object. I see this every day in a school
environment. The female population of schools, will typically try to dress good
and look good, and will always comment on the looks of other females. This is
an extremely bad problem, as it makes the male side of the population think
that it is perfectly acceptable to criticize the looks and physical appearance
women, making them seem like canvases, rather than respected people a lot
inside.
These may seem like minor issues, but all these contribute
to the growing problem in our society that is domestic violence. It starts off
with a certain attitude, or a class difference. For many other people, it
escalates into so much more. Many will have traditional conservative values,
and believe that women are not equal to men. Another problem would be in the
definition of domestic abuse. Many men will just hit their partner, and to
them, it may seem harmless, but over time, it puts a lot of women in a long
string of depression. Furthermore, domestic abuse does not just have to be
violence. Many women are psychologically, emotionally and financially. This
kind of abuse can be just as harmful to women, because it makes them feel worthless
and ‘stuck’.
It is clear that in general, women are typically the victims
of domestic violence. However, recently, more men are becoming subject to
domestic abuse. In fact, surveys in 2012 found that 17 men were killed by their
partners in England and Wales in that year[7].
Male Domestic Abuse
There are many reasons why domestic violence towards men is
on the increase, all based around modern society. More women are being
empowered, and becoming involved in what used to be a “man’s world”, with a lot
more aggression and competition. Women are becoming more equal to men; however
some women may tip the scale completely.
There is a somewhat corrupted definition of feminism.
Feminism is wanting equality for both genders, and ensuring that women are
equal to men. I agree that the name can be quite misleading, but this causes
the empowerment of women to become quite out of hand. Some women will try and
be dominant, and argue that women have superiority over men. It is good for
women to be strong and powerful, but not for women as a whole to be superior to
men.
Furthermore, the fact that historically, women have been
unequal to men, many think it justifies women hitting or abusing their
partners. Many see it as harmless, and many will laugh at the concept of women
abusing their male partners. That is why it has become such a taboo thing, the
statistics of male domestic abuse say very little, as it is likely that many
men choose not to report such abuse, as it is quite embarrassing for men. Women
are physically weaker, which is one of the reasons why male domestic abuse is
laughed about. Women will see their physical inabilities as a justification for
abusing their partner.
Personally, I believe is wrong. Yes women should be equals
to men, which mean that like men, women should not be allowed to commit
atrocities such as domestic violence. One of the big patterns that cause this
increasing feud between men and women is income. The income of a certain area
and the rates of domestic abuse are strongly correlated.
Income and Domestic Abuse
The fact that lower income households are more likely to
have some kind of domestic abuse occurring inside is for many reasons. Amongst
couples who are experiencing more financial strain, the domestic violence rate
is 9.5%, whereas amongst couples with low financial strain, only 2.7%
experience domestic violence[8].
This explains why domestic violence rates have increased, since the start of
the recession.
One of the most commonly explained reason for this would be
stress. Couples experiencing financial stress have difficulty seeing positivity
in their social situation, so fail to see positivity in any aspect of their
life at all. One cannot live a good life, without having money in this world.
As a consequence, couples lack the care and attention towards one another, so
the partnership or marriage just becomes a relationship for the sake of it,
rather than for real emotional purposes. As a consequence, loving one another
just becomes a job for partners and they slowly become less intimate to one
another. You get the picture. This all leads to domestic violence, as the
partnership becomes something they have to deal with, and becomes a strain on
each one in the relationship.
Another crucial part of the link between income and domestic
violence is the intellectual capabilities of the lower classes. Those with a
low income typically had a poor education, so thus fail to have any proper
understanding of an egalitarian society. They will adopt traditional values,
because that’s all they are ever used to. Even the women in the lower classes
will see sitting at home and making dinner all the time as a normal thing, and
entirely agree to it. Furthermore, they are influenced into having certain
values more easily.
More children from low income households watch more than 3
hours of TV a day, as opposed to those from higher income households[9].
This links to the previous point, on how hip hop culture influences misogynistic
ideologies. Those from lower income households are the ones watching this
misogyny every day. They are already easily influenced, due to their generally
poor education. This explains why those from low income households, are more
likely to be involved in drugs and gangs and the like.
Conclusion
Overall, the patterns behind domestic violence seem to be
with culture and background. The way certain people are influenced with regards
to their culture and background influences their attitudes towards the opposite
sex, and their aggressive behaviour. This social issues discussed may seem
small, but these all influence the general attitude towards domestic violence,
thus decreasing the typically disgusted attitude towards domestic violence.
Obviously, certain psychological conditions can influence
domestic violence. Say for example, if one has an anger condition, or some kind
of disorder, they may be generally more aggressive and more reckless.
All of these factors contribute to domestic violence rates.
We cannot blame one area of society for the problem, because there are so many
different things that contribute to the presence of it.
1.)
Catriona Mirrlees-Black: Domestic Violence: Findings from a new British Crime Survey
self-completion questionnaire, 1999
